Chamber Leaders Elected

February 22, 2019
By: Suzanne Williams

The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce recently elected their 2019 Chamber Executive Board Members, welcomed 6 new Chamber Board Members – five to replace the retiring board members and one to serve a 2-year term to replace a board member who moved – and said goodbye to retiring directors.

Chamber Director Suzanne Williams says, “As we begin a new year, it is very exciting to announce our new Chamber Executive Board and new board members, but also bittersweet as we say good-bye to our retiring members. The 2018 Executive Committee and Retiring Board Members did an excellent job and served the Chamber well.”

The 2018 Officers were Rita Bell, President; Beth Adcock, Vice-President; Jane Brown, Secretary; Sherry Harris, Treasurer; and Isaac Gray, Past President. Retiring Board Members include Isaac Gray, Smithville Cumberland Presbyterian Church; Steve Johnson, DTC Communications; Connie Tjarks, DeKalb Farmers Market, and Sherry Harris, D&S Special-tees.

The newly elected 2019 Chamber Executive Officers are as follows: Beth Adcock, Smithville Police Dept., is the new Chamber President. Lisa Cripps, DeKalb Prevention Coalition, was elected Vice-President. Jane Brown, Middle TN Natural Gas will serve as Chamber Board Secretary. Kathy Hendrixson, Director of the DeKalb County Library Systems, will be the Treasurer. Rita Bell, Haven of Hope, will serve as Past President.

New Board Members include Billie Davis, JBeez Watercraft/Canoe the Caney, Jen Sherwood, Federal Mogul; Norene Puckett, DeKalb Recovery Court; Leigh Fuson, DeKalb Extension/4-H; Josh Issac, DeKalb County Complex; and Kathy Hendrixson, DeKalb Library Systems.

Other Chamber Board Members include Dana Scott, Tenneco; Mark Taylor, Edgar Evins State Park; Lora Webb, The Webb House; Debra Ruzinsky, Appalachian Center for Craft; Tom Sturdivant, Pates Ford Marina/Fish Lipz Grill & Sligo Marina/Restaurant; and Andy Wachtel. Honorary Board Members are DeKalb County Mayor Tim Stribling, Smithville Mayor Josh Miller, Alexandria Mayor Bennett Armstrong, Dowelltown Mayor Pam Redmon, and Liberty Mayor Dwight Mathis.

Williams stated, “I am very grateful to the entire Chamber Board. They have been so supportive & enjoyable to work with, and we look forward to a lot of great opportunities in 2019, including some exciting new events!”

February 22, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The county budget committee will soon begin work preparing a spending plan for the 2019- 2020 fiscal year.

During an all-committees workshop of the county commission Thursday night, County Mayor Tim Stribling said budget forms have been sent out to all department administrators to be returned by February 28 with any requests they may have for the new budget year.

“After the forms have been returned we will set up some preliminary budget meetings to allow department heads to formally present their proposals to the budget committee if they wish to come in person and then we will start working on the new budget,” said Stribling.

Stribling shared with the Commissioners information on how much money the county is expected to receive from the current tax rate in the new fiscal year.

“I am required to inform the board of education, the director of schools, and the highway department by March 15 what the value of a penny is in DeKalb County,” Stribling said.

The overall tax rate is $1.8335 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.

The rate is distributed as follows:

County General: 0.9635 cents
General Purpose Schools: 0.6100 cents
Debt Service: 0.1300 cents
Highways/Public Works: 0.0300 cents
General Capital Projects: 0.1000 cents

Estimated revenue from the current property tax assessments for the 2019-20 fiscal year based upon estimated assessed valuations of $493,686,000 is $49,368 per one cent of the property tax rate. However the county is actually expected to receive $46,716 per one cent of the tax rate based on a 94.75% collection rate or a 5.25% delinquency.

The estimated net collection from the overall property tax rate is $8,576,517 in local revenue to help fund the county general department, general purpose schools, debt service, highways/public works, and general capital projects.

The net estimated local property tax collection for each department is as follows:

County General: $4,506,940
General Purpose Schools: $2,853,382
Debt Service: $608,098
Highways/Public Works: $140,330
General Capital Projects: $467,757

When asked about how much more money the county highway department is receiving from increases in state fuel tax allocations due to the IMPROVE ACT adopted by the legislature two years ago, County Mayor Stribling explained that the increase in funding for the department over a three year period was projected at $555,642 including $331,351 the first year and $112,145 this year and next year. The county highway department is totally funded by state fuel tax allocations except for a local mineral severance tax and revenues from three cents of the county property tax.

February 22, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DCHS Lady Tigers will travel to Crossville tonight (Friday) to face Cumberland County in the quarterfinals of the Region 4AA basketball tournament.

WJLE will have LIVE coverage with the Voice of the Lady Tigers John Pryor. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

Cumberland County (23-6) is the top seed from District 7 while the Lady Tigers (20-10) are seeded 4th from District 8.

Lady Tiger Coach Danny Fish said Cumberland County will be a challenge.

“I think it’s going to be a tough game for us but we’re used to tough games. We play in one of the toughest districts in the state with Macon County and Upperman but we have a pretty good feel for them (Cumberland County). We played them in camp earlier this year and it was a pretty tight game until the end and we played them last year too but they are a little bit different now and so are we so we’re looking forward to the challenge,” said Coach Fish.

“Cumberland County’s Gracie Dishman can score points and she will be up for Miss basketball this year. They play at a fast pace and they are long and pretty athletic. We’re going to try and do our best job on her (Dishman) and see where the chips fall. They are very good but if we shoot the ball well from the perimeter and we can get some interior aggressiveness to the rim and get to the free throw line we can cause them some problems. Their pressure is the key. They really sell out on the pressure so how we handle their press and their trap style defense is really going to dictate how we do tonight,” Coach Fish continued.

“If we win tonight we will probably meet Upperman again and I feel pretty good about that game. If we are good enough to get past Cumberland County tonight and get to Upperman I feel like we have a good shot of making it to the regional finals. We gained a lot of confidence when we played them in the district tournament. After watching film on that game we were really a lot closer than maybe some people thought we would be. We were a couple shots away from really putting them on the ropes and knocking them out. I like our chances in the next round and I feel if we can get to the regional finals we have an opportunity to go to the glass house because District 8AA and having Cumberland County in our region is like a gauntlet. You’re looking at some of the better teams in double A,” added Coach Fish.

Meanwhile Lady Tigers Kadee Ferrell and Lydia Brown were named to the All-District Tournament Team earlier this week.